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Management 

growing chicks 



BOYSandGIRLS 

POULTRY 

CLUB 

WORK 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 17 

CONTRIBUTION FROM 

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY 

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DIVISION 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



GTON. D. 

HIV* 



NOV 1 7 1 



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division 



MANAGEMENT 



OF GROWING CHICKS. 



THE care of growing chicks, especially during very warm weather, 
is most important, and every boy or girl who is a member of a 
poultry club or is raising chickens should give them the best of care 
at this time if he or she wishes to succeed. The baby chicks may 
be smart little fellows from strong, vigorous parent stock, and they 
may have been brooded carefully for the first two or three weeks, 
but unless they receive proper care and management during their 
later growing period they will not develop properly, and many of 
them will be lost through sickness or disease. 




Fig. 1. — Rear view of two houses, each made from two piano boxes, for growing chicks. The entrance 
door is in front. Note the ventilating window, which is protected by the raised wooden shutter. 

ESSENTIALS TO PROPER GROWTH. 

The chief essentials to proper growth are good coops or houses, 
cleanliness, proper feed and water, shade, and free range. 

Coops and houses. — Growing chicks should be provided with large, 
roomy coops or houses which will give them a comfortable place to 
stay at night and during stormy weather. No particular kind of 
house is necessary, but it should be so built that it will provide the 
chicks with lots of light, pure air, and sunshine, and protect them 
from dampness and storms of all kinds. It also should be arranged 
so that it can be cleaned easily and frequently, which is very important. 



4 Department Circular 17, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

If brood coops are used, do not let too many chicks go into one coop 
at night, as crowding will cause them to become overheated, resulting 
in improper growth and sometimes in dead chicks. As the season 
advances and the chicks become larger, some should be removed and 
placed in other coops to prevent crowding. When possible, it is best 
to provide larger quarters. A good house can be built from dry- 
goods and piano boxes at a small cost. The houses shown in figure 1 
were built from two piano boxes and covered with tar paper to keep 
out the rain, making very satisfactory quarters. In a house of this 
sort the same care should be taken as in brood coops not to crowd 
the chicks. 

Cleanliness. — Every coop and poultry house used for growing 
chicks should be kept clean at all times. Sickness or disease usually 
starts in unclean quarters, and in such quarters lice and mites are 
always more plentiful. The coops and houses should be cleaned and 
sprayed once a week, and clean shavings, chaff, or sand put on the 
floor. Examine the chicks and houses often for lice and mites, and 
if found they should be got rid of at once by following the directions 
in Department Circular 16, "Lice, Mites, and Cleanliness." 

FEEDS AND WATER. 

A variety of feeds, with fresh, clean water, is necessary if chicks are 
to grow properly. Perhaps the three most necessary for rapid growth 
are grain feed, green feed, and dry mash. 

Grain feed. — In addition to the green feed and dry mash, which 
should be provided regularly, a grain mixture should be fed night and 
morning, giving as large a quantity as the chicks will eat clean, but 
no more. A good grain mixture for growing chicks consists of 3 parts 
cracked corn, 2 parts wheat, and 2 parts hulled oats. When available, 
kafir corn or rolled or hulled barley may be substituted for hulled oats. 
In localities where hulled oats, kafir corn, or rolled barley can not be 
obtained, or is too high in price, a mixture of cracked corn and wheat 
only may be fed until the chicks are old enough to eat whole oats, 
when 2 parts oats may be added to the corn and wheat mixture. 

Green feed. — A reasonable supply of fresh green feed is almost as 
necessary as grain for growing chicks if they are to develop properly. 
If allowed liberty they will obtain much of it for themselves, but if 
kept in confinement or in quarters where green feed is not abundant, 
it should be supplied them regularly. Lawn grass, beet tops, cabbage, 
and lettuce make excellent feeds. When chicks are confined to brood 
coops with runs, they should be placed on ground where the grass 
is green and tender, and as fast as it is eaten off the coop and run 
should be moved to a place where the grass is plentiful. 



Management of Growing Chicks. 5 



Dry mash. — In addition to grain and green feeds, dry mash should 
be kept before growing chicks at all times after they are three or four 
weeks old. It is best to feed it in a hopper inside the building or 
where it will not be exposed to rain or wet. If a large number of 
chicks are raised, the mash may be fed in an outdoor hopper (figure 2). 
The following mixture makes a good dry mash: Two pounds corn 
meal, 2 pounds middlings, 1 pound oatmeal, 2 pounds wheat bran, 
1 pound beef scrap, and one-fourth pound charcoal. When a larger 
quantity is desired it should be mixed in the same proportion. 

Also grit and oyster shell should be provided, so that the chicks 
may help themselves whenever they wish. 




Fig. 2. — A help-yourself hopper for feeding dry mash outdoors. The hinged sloping cover permits 
filling the hopper, protects the contents, and shelters the chicks. 

Sour milk. — Nothing is better for growing chicks than a liberal 
supply of sour milk. If it can be obtained, it always should be kept 
before them in an open dish or pan where they can eat and drink it 
freely. Where sour milk is fed, the amount of beef scrap in the dry 
mash may be reduced one-half. 

Water. — Plenty of fresh, clean water is absolutely necessary for all 
growing chicks. In hot weather, it should be given twice daily and 
put into fountains or dishes and placed in the shade so as to keep as 
cool as possible. Glean the water dish thoroughly each day before 
filling. 

Range and shade. — An abundance of free range with plenty of 
shade is necessary if chicks are to grow rapidly and develop into 
vigorous fowls. Growing chicks that have free range obtain quantities 
of green feed, bugs, worms, and other things, therefore requiring less 
grain, and they are also less liable to sickness or disease. Give your 
chicks free range whenever possible. 



KEEP STAND ARD - BRED 
POULTRY. 



Standard-bred poultry is more uniform in size, 
type, and color. 



Standard-bred poultry is more attractive in appear- 
ance and appeals more strongly to purchasers of 
stock and eggs. 



Standard-bred poultry offers a greater combination 
of practical and utility qualities suitable to the needs 
of the farmer and poultry keeper. 



Standard-bred products are more uniform in 
quality, are in greater demand, and bring better 
prices. 



Standard-bred poultry means greater success and 
better profits. 



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